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Four years following the bankruptcy of MAT Macedonian Airlines, a new national carrier for the country, to be set up by private investors, is in the works. The Macedonian Civil Aviation Agency (CAA) has revealed that two foreign investors are willing to launch a new national carrier, utilising local expertise in the aviation sector which has been hit hard by MAT’s demise. Dejan Mojsoski, the head of the CAA, says he cannot comment on the names of the investors due to a confidentiality agreement but noted that “There is growing interest in the aviation sector in the country. Not only have foreign airlines increased their presence in Macedonia, there is also interest for a locally registered airline to be set up with foreign capital, following the example of Etihad Airways in Serbia”.

MAT Macedonian Airlines suspended flights in 2009 following mounting losses and debt. However, it was the Macedonian Civil Aviation Agency which played an instrumental role in grounding its national carrier and leaving several hundred employees out of work after it deemed MAT’s aircraft unsafe to fly. There have been attempts to relaunch the airline as Mat Airways, however, all have ended in failure. Recently, the Serbian government, as well as Jat Airways’ former CEO Velibor Vukašinović, indicated that Jat’s fleet of retiring Boeing aircraft could be used to establish Aeromak, Jat’s Macedonian registered subsidiary. MAT is Macedonia’s second national carrier to go bust following Palair Macedonian Airlines, which operated in the early 1990s. MAT officially declared bankruptcy in January 2010.

The creation of a new national carrier marks the second phase of the government’s strategy to develop the aviation industry in the country. The first, which included privatising Skopje and Ohrid airports and building new airport infrastructure, has been successfully completed. The Macedonian government is currently subsidising low cost airline Wizz Air, which has become the country’s busiest airline. A total of five million euros have been allocated to the no frills airline until 2015.

Skopje Alexander the Great Airport has continued to post impressive results with growth reaching over 23% in August. During the month, Macedonia’s busiest airport welcomed 115.023 passengers, an increase of 23.1% compared to the same month last year. In addition, Ohrid Airport handled 16.463 passengers. As a result, the two airports welcomed a total of 131.486 travellers through their doors during the month of August, up 20.5% on last year. So far in 2013, Skopje and Ohrid handled a combined total of 732.831 passengers, up 17.5% with 8.489 flight operations. The growth is being driven by Wizz Air which is the country’s busiest airline.
In August, Istanbul was the busiest route operating in and out of Skopje, followed by Vienna, Zurich, London and Malmo. In the first eight months Ljubljana made it into the top five busiest as the only EX-YU city. The busiest airlines so far this year were Wizz Air, Turkish Airlines, Austrian, Adria Airways and Pegasus Airlines. Skopje will hope to maintain growth next year as well and possibly reach the one million passenger mark as Wizz Air prepares to base a second aircraft in the city next summer and launch several new routes.

Meanwhile, across the border in Montenegro, Tivat Airport saw its busiest month in history. The airport handled an impressive 203.492 passengers in August, up 28.5% compared to the same month last year. A total of 1.098 flight operations were recorded in and out of the city, an increase of 19.4% on August 2012. In the first eight months of the year, Tivat Airport welcomed 657.257 passengers, up 20.2% and saw 3.921 flight operations, representing an increase of 12.2%. Early results from September indicate the airport will extend its record run with growth anticipated to reach between 10 to 15% this month.

Wizz Air announced their second based Airbus 320 in Skopje, Republic of Macedonia.
Three new destinations: Paris Beauvais, Brussels Charleroi and Frankfurt Hahn, all of them twice weekly from mid-April 2014.

The low cost airline Wizz Air has announced plans to expand its operations out of Skopje Alexander the Great Airport. The no Continue Reading

The low cost airline Wizz Air will today begin its expansion within the former Yugoslavia by launching flights to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Services from Malmo to Tuzla will be inaugurated this evening. Originally, flights were to begin this Friday, however, strong booking numbers and demand led the airline to bring the service forward by several days. The no frills carrier is set to bring new life into Tuzla Airport, which handled only one passenger in the first four months of the year. In addition, the airline will launch flights from Basel and Gothenburg to Tuzla in June. It estimates it will carry some 30.000 passengers in its first year of operations to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

This Friday, Wizz Air will also begin its expansion from Belgrade as it bases a second aircraft in the Serbian capital. The airline will launch flights to Oslo Torp on May 31. On Saturday services to Paris Beauvais will be inaugurated, while seasonal flights to the Greek islands of Rhodes and Corfu begin next month. Compared to the summer of 2012, Wizz Air will boost its flight offer from Belgrade by 58%, with 41 weekly departures from the city.

Finally, the low cost airline will stretch its wings from Skopje as well. On Friday the airline will launch flights from the Macedonian capital to Gothenburg. Earlier this month Wizz Air inaugurated flights from Skopje to Stockholm. Compared to last summer, Wizz Air has increased its operations in the Macedonian capital by 350%, offering 27 weekly departures.

Within the former Yugoslavia Wizz Air is not present only in Montenegro and Pristina. The airline has hinted it is considering expanding its flight offer from Ljubljana, where it currently operates flights to London and Charleroi. Furthermore, it is still keen on establishing services to both Sarajevo and Banja Luka.

Wizz Air is continuing to eye new destinations within the former Yugoslavia with Ohrid being the latest point of interest. The low cost airline held talks with city and airport authorities regarding the possible launch of flights from the lake side town, which could attract both diaspora passengers and holiday makers. Mayor Nikola Bakračeski says local authorities are prepared to provide subsidies to the airline for it to launch flights, which would in turn fuel local business and tourism. Wizz Air sees potential in Ohrid as an average of 30% of passengers using Skopje Airport come from south west Macedonia, where Ohrid is located.

Wizz Air has identified northern Italy, Switzerland and Germany as potential destinations from Ohrid. Furthermore, the airline believes it could attract passengers from Albania as well due to the town’s close proximity to the Albanian border. Ohrid Airport is currently served only on a seasonal summer basis by Jat Airways with flights from Belgrade and Jetairfly from Brussels. Wizz Air recently announced flights from Tuzla and already has two hubs within the former Yugoslavia – in Belgrade and Skopje. Wizz Air has a sizable order for 92 Airbus A320s with the airline looking to deploy the aircraft across Central and Eastern Europe in the coming years.

Meanwhile, Sarajevo Airport and Wizz Air are planning to go back to the negotiating table after talks between the two sides collapsed last year. Sarajevo Airport is unwilling to lower its taxes, a key demand made by the low cost airline. “We are negotiating with Wizz Air because we believe that the airline could link us with European destinations such as London and Brussels. We held thorough talks in 2012 and we have not given up. Upon Wizz Air’s request we resumed talks on March 12 in order to reach a compromise and for Wizz Air to launch flights from Sarajevo in 2013”, Vedrana Vikić Musić, the head of Sarajevo’s Aviation Services Sales Office says.

A high ranking delegation from Qatar will visit Macedonia in March, during which the country’s national carrier is set to announce flights between Doha and Skopje. Macedonian press reports that Qatar Airways CEO, Akbar Al Baker, will be part of the delegation which will be sizing up potential investments in the country. The airline is believed to be planning to launch flights to Skopje at the end of the year. Qatar Airways is hoping to attract transit passengers from the Macedonian capital which would connect onto its flights to Australia, the Far East and South Africa.

Qatar Airways’ potential arrival into Skopje could shake up Flydubai’s operations to the city. Last October the low cost carrier launched two weekly flights between Dubai and Skopje. The service will increase to three times per week during the 2013 summer season. However, the majority of Flydubai’s passengers on the service connect onto Emirates’ flights to Australia. Qatar could also pose as added competition to Turkish Airlines which also depends on large amounts of transit passengers on its flights from the Macedonian capital. The airline will operate two daily flights between Istanbul and Skopje this summer.

Qatar Airways launched flights to Zagreb via Budapest earlier in 2012 and inaugurated services to Belgrade via Ankara in November last year. The airline does not hold fifth freedom rights on the Ankara – Belgrade – Ankara sector. On the other hand, it has been granted rights to sell tickets between Zagreb and Budapest. Whether Skopje will become the carrier’s third destination in the former Yugoslavia will be answered in March.